12/24/2011
12/19/2011
Christmas & Traditions
Heather’s Christmas Traditions
We have a tradition of cutting down our own Christmas tree! We usually purchase a $10 permit and then spend the day searching for the perfect tree…It’s an all day adventure and has been lots of fun! This year we purchased our first tree from Home Depot because of an unexpected Snow Storm…every year we have had a real tree!
After we get our tree all set up we put lights on it and decorate it and then go to bed. The morning after we set up the tree we always find New Pajamas under the tree waiting for us. Santa’s Elf’s bring them to show that they like our tree.
I love getting our pajama’s the day after the tree is set up because we can wear them all of December and on Christmas Eve!
We have another tradition of letting each of our kids pick out/buy on ornament to put on the tree. They pick an ornament each year and we write their name and year on it then when they move out they will get to take them with them.
We also get a family ornament each year although the family ornament is always a clear glass ball with a family picture from the year…I just put it together! I found a tutorial that shows how to put a picture in a clear glass ornament…it’s pretty close to how I do mine. The only difference is I just design the whole picture in Photoshop and then print it. Here is the tutorial if your interested.
We have another tradition of driving around and looking at Christmas lights…this house is one of my favorites!
We also have a tradition of purchasing a Christmas book each year and reading it together. This has been a fun one…each year we have more Christmas books to read and it’s fun to look back on why we chose the certain book each year. This year our little boy picked it out and it’s all about the animals view of the birth of Christ. Our little guy LOVES animals.
We also love to send out Christmas Cards to friends and family! Here is this years:
We always read about the birth of Christ from the book of Luke and we re-enact it on Christmas eve. This has been a great way to turn the focus back to Christ and away from all the commercialism of Christmas! Here is a picture from last year:
We usually do something with gingerbread or graham crackers like make gingerbread houses this year we plan to do graham cracker nativities like this one from AOK Corral.
We also have lots of family parties and get togethers with friends and family! One of our favorite parties is when my husbands family all gathers in our home and we enjoy dinner and then sing Christmas songs and Santa visits!
Merry Christmas!!
Ideas on things to do this Holiday Season!
Our House this time of year
Where is Santa?
NORAD Santa Tracker is a fun way to see where Santa is. Right now it’s a countdown to track Santa but as time gets closer it will show where Santa is on Google Map.
Christmas Decorations
Teach & Play with the Nativity
Presents
Peppermint Ice Cream & Hot Cider
64 oz apple juice (half gallon size)
48 oz Orange Juice (Frozen concentrate with water)
4 sticks of cinnamon
1 Tbs. of cloves
A pinch of Nutmeg.
Just combine the ingredients in a pan and warm on the stovetop. Super easy and very good. One thing that I like to do is add sliced oranges to the pan to add flavor and make it look more pretty. ENJOY!
Photo Shoot
2011 Ornaments
12/16/2011
Personalized Message from Santa
This website is so fun! You can prepare a personalized video for your little one with details and pictures about things that have happened throughout the year. It took me about 5 minutes to prepare and my little guy LOVED it…I loved watching his face when he saw his picture and when Santa called him by name! Click here to make you own.
Here is our video! You can watch it first to see if you want to do one for your child.
Our Favorite Pancakes
We absolutely LOVE these pancakes…every single one of us. I find myself eating them like cookies and don’t put much on them at breakfast because they are just that good alone. They are also filling and healthy!
This is a 2 step recipe, I make up a bunch of dry mix and then mix it with wet ingredients as I need it. Here is the recipe:
8 Cups dry mix: ( I mix all the dry ingredients and then store in an ice cream bucket)
4 Cups quick oats
2 Cups White Flour
2 Cups Wheat Flour
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Cup Powdered Milk
3 Tb baking powder
1 Tb cinnamon
7 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cream of tarter
Wet Ingredients: (When you are ready to use mix in the wet ingredients)
2 Cups of Dry Mix
2 Eggs
1/3 Cup Oil
1 1/2 Cup Water
Once you have mixed up your batter cook over medium heat.
1 batch makes about 8 medium sized pancakes! Enjoy!
HINT: When cooking pancakes don’t keep flipping, wait for the center of the pancake to bubble then flip once and cook the other side. The pancakes will cook more evenly :)